To create the image, CNN used 40 cameras to film Yellin, a green-screen
environment inside a specially constructed tent, a TV screen that
allowed Yellin to see the combined image of her and Blitzer, a set of
computers that made Yellin's image camera-ready, and "a mix of
mechanical and infrared camera-tracking technology to create a
realistic holographic image," according to CNN spokeswoman Erica Puntel.

(A holographic suite was also set up at McCain headquarters in Arizona, but it was not used.)

Andrew Orloff, creative director of Zoic Studios, a Los Angeles firm
that creates visual effects for TV, movies, commercials and video
games, said such equipment does not come cheaply: Just one rendering
engine, the kind of computer used to crunch multiple streams of visual
information, can cost $70,000, he said.

For a new company to buy all that hardware and software would cost
millions, but CNN already owns lots of cameras and equipment. Orloff's
ballpark guesstimate of what the holographic extras may have cost the
network: $300,000-$400,000.

His verdict on Yellin's holographic debut? "It was pretty cool, but it
was a little bit weird too. ... It was a little bit creepy," he
said. "They were not quite looking at each other -- he couldn't
see what we saw."

Perhaps the futuristic technology will be perfected by 2012. CNN may
use the technology in the future, Puntel said, but the network is not
sure when.

Please stop calling this a hologram. It was a glorified blue/green screen arrangement--an impressive one, but not a hologram. Blitzer could not see the people he was interviewing--it was all done in post-processing the video.

Also, the technology should never be the news in this case. CNN appeared to get past their giddiness of the interactive multi-touch map displays so the actual information was the focus. Unfortunately, Wolf was a complete tool whenever the fake-hologram was used.

I seem to recall some commercials for Cisco Telepresence during some parts of the telecast. They (Cisco) have demonstrated some "hologram"-like technology in other events, too. I think this was a tie-in that they sponsored, so the cost to CNN wasn't that bad. It's definitely smoke and mirrors, and, in my opinion, Cisco is marketing this because it requires their (expensive) hardware and lots of bandwidth, too - which they also want everyone to manage with their equipment.

I agree that progress is good and I don't have a problem with news organizations keeping up with technology. However this is just technology for technology's sake. Incredibly impractical. And I can't imagine how many uses it would have in an industry that has to keep its field operatives pretty nimble.

And after the consideration of cost, I had the exact same thought that Linda had: does a news organization--which is supposed to be pursuing the truth--want to invest in technology that's really all about manipulation and misperception? When it comes to objectivity, a lot of media already have an uphill battle as it is.

I'm sorry but I was watching CNN that night and I'm almost positive they said there were 30-40 High Definition cameras to capture that image. That setup- those cameras plus the computer/software to create that image has to be in the million+ area. We're talking serious money.

It was pretty cool but not good enough to blow anyone away. Keep trying though- 2012 might bring an incredible image.

I think I saw this hologram communication technology on a few episodes of Start Trek deep space nine and then they stopped the hologram because they realized even in the 24th century it looks ridiculous, let alone the 21st.

As a journalism/media studies teacher in the Boston area, I asked my two journalism classes to watch CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS on election night and write comparison-contrasts. They had to specifically discuss CNN's use of holograms, NBC's Rockefeller Center Skating Rink Map, and ABC's use of Time Square...(the election "gimmicks" the networks had announced ahead of time). Almost universally, students felt that the hologram stunt on CNN was a horrible distraction, "strange," "unnecessary," and "I'm going to have nightmares of it--not really but it's freaky" were some of the comments of my students. The touch-screen computers that CNN used all throughout primary season did have many positive results, although most students still liked Charles Gibson's ABC newscast and Brian Williams' NBC newscast more than CNN or CBS.

Other than the fact that it isn't a hologram, which is generated by lasers and is projected into space, this was a clever way to attract and retain viewers. It isn't anything other than that. It beats the two correspondents interacting with one-another on flat screens. Developing the lines and graphics which are keyed onto the football field for the viewers at home proved to be a welcome enhancement to the game. This is no different from that.

Affiliate links disclaimer:

Clicking on the green links will direct you to a third-party Web site. Bloggers and staff writers are in no way affiliated with these links that are placed by an e-commerce specialist only after stories and posts have been published.